| 100% | FLAGSTAFF | 9 | Pole outside government buildings (or a city in 51-Across) |
| 53% | MESA | 4 | Flat-topped landform (or a city in 51-Across) |
| 51% | TOMBSTONE | 9 | Roadhouse Double Down frozen pizza brand (or a city in 51-Across) |
| 42% | FLINT | 5 | Spark producer or a city in Michigan |
| 42% | RIO | 3 | 2011 animated movie, or a city in Brazil |
| 38% | BEFOREHAND | 10 | Earlier ... or a hint to the words circled in 17-, 21-, 37- and 51-Across |
| 38% | FRENCHTWIST | 11 | Classic hairstyle ... or a hint to the puns in 17-, 25-, 39- and 51-Across |
| 37% | LANDMARKS | 9 | Famous buildings or structures in cities or towns |
| 37% | AUPAIRS | 7 | Live-in workers ... or a hint to 14, 18, 32, and 51 Across |
| 36% | CHANCECARD | 10 | Orange item in 51-Across that may tell a player to 15-Across or send a player to 29-Across (2 wds.) |
| 36% | EASYONTHEEYES | 13 | Pleasing to look at ... or a phonetic hint to a two-letter sequence in 16-, 20-, 51- and 56-Across |
| 36% | FUNHOUSE | 8 | Building in a funfair made to startle or amuse |
| 36% | ENID | 4 | "OK K.O.!" character (or a city in OK) |
| 36% | TOWNHALL | 8 | Main administrative building in a small city |
| 36% | CAEN | 4 | ___ stone (type of limestone named for a city in Normandy and used in building Westminster Abbey) |
| 35% | YUMA | 4 | City in a 2007 Russell Crowe/Christian Bale western (and in 51-Across) |
| 35% | ITSMEAGAIN | 10 | "I'm back!" … or a hint to 17-, 24-, 38- and 51- Across |
| 35% | DIVEBAR | 7 | Seedy hangout ... or a hint to finishing four Across answers in this puzzle |
| 35% | BRICKBAT | 8 | Insult or criticism, not a block used in building |
| 34% | PERISCOPE | 9 | Use it to see across trenches or in a submarine |
| 34% | DUCT | 4 | Tube-like channel for air or liquid in a building |
| 34% | CHI | 3 | A.L. or N.L. city, in brief |
| 34% | CORRIDOR | 8 | Passage in a building or train |
| 34% | LUCCA | 5 | A city in Tuscany |
| 33% | EVACUATE | 8 | Leave a building or place, like in an emergency |
| 33% | NEST | 4 | Where 38-Across lay 1-Across ... or a word hidden in 20-, 27-, 44- and 51-Across |
| 33% | TRAIN | 5 | A, B, or C, in New York City |
| 33% | COLUMN | 6 | Doric, Ionic or Corinthian; pillar in a building |
| 33% | ASTRAKHAN | 9 | City in Russia on the delta of the Volga River associated with a type of black or grey fur |
| 33% | PAN | 3 | Across all or incorporating all in a group |